Nothing to Lose
by Evil-Ekat
Summary: AU. Dippy Fresh survives Weirdmageddon, only to find that his sister doesn't want anything to do with him. He is left behind, coping with reality on his own, as he waits for her to change her mind and come back to Gravity Falls.
1. Beginnings

**The best way to enjoy this story is by not reading it at all. There's a bit of blood description at the end of the chapter, just a warning in advance for those who are squeamish.**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**

 _ **B**_ eginnings

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls.**

* * *

Losing your belt to neon-hating gnomes? Not radical.

The battery running out on your light-up high-tops? Not radical, and with the side-effect of not being able to see anything in the dark.

The death of your creator, resulting in freedom and genuine human emotions... Radical? Maybe?

Dippy Fresh wasn't at all certain what freedom and true existence meant. It must have been a good thing, if his sister could be persuaded to escape Mabel-Land. But so far, his experiences with reality had been, well, not that radical.

When he was first released he was mistaken for his square of a look-alike. Some of his creator's friends had tried to dismember him because of it. His shirt had been untucked and ripped in the struggle, which really clashed with the fresh image he was trying to give off. Dippy made it clear he was working for the same guy as them, and then went on his merry way. Yet, somewhere between the chaos, he was confused for a real boy, and dragged to "safety" by responsible adults. His search for his sister came to an abrupt halt.

He eventually escaped his uncool captors, and wandered into what passed for a forest. It was easy to navigate when the ground was dust and the trees were black. But then, everything suddenly grew back. He was lost in a sea of green. With no idea where to go, he wandered through the labyrinth-like lands for what seemed like an eternity. At some point in his journey, Dippy began to feel different. He couldn't quite put his finger on why that was until he started to talk with some of the peeps in the forest.

The first thing that he discovered was that his creator was gone, and everyone was very happy about it. Dippy didn't feel either way when he heard the news and saw the celebrations. He joined in with the partying and had a wicked time. It wasn't until he was kicked out of the celebrations that he began to feel, and notice this. It was confusion mostly. The bees did not smile at you and form helpful messages in a swarm. They stung you for talking to them and chased you until you threw yourself into a river. The mountain lions didn't give directions either. They ate your hat and chased you up a tree. Everything was different and Dippy wasn't so sure if he liked it.

Then, one day after he had recovered from eating poisonous berries, it happened. He found his way out of the forest. There was a lawn, just between the trees. He could see a wooden house, and a parking lot. But what he spotted next made his newly-beating heart speed up. It was his sister. She was there in the tall mixture of grass and wildflowers. His favourite, totally cute pig was next to her.

Mabel caught a neon-orange frisbee. Neon-orange was like, his favourite colour! (Along with the rest of the neon and sparkle rainbow.) She tossed the frisbee in his direction. Only, not at him. The square version of himself was standing there as well. But that could be fixed in a jiffy, now that he had found them! As the frisbee came towards lamer Dippy Fresh, (Dippy Stale maybe?) he sprang out of the trees and caught it. Dippy would have caught it with his mouth and done a kickflip, but he had quickly and painfully discovered that he was physically incapable of doing that in real life. Instead, he settled for striking a cool pose and saying, "never fear, after an indefinite time of wandering around in the woods, Dippy Fresh is here! Soos, catch!"

He threw the Frisbee at Soos, but his **warning** went unnoticed. Instead, it went sailing through the air, and straight into the window with a large crash. Dippy laughed and then said, "whoops! Do you mind if I blame that on you fake Dippy Fresh?"

They continued to stare at him with their mouths agape. Soos was first to recover from the shock of his dramatic debut in reality.

"Dippy Fresh! You're alive?!"

"Yup! That's right dawg! I've got questionable free will and everything! I'm a gen-u-ine human being now!"

"B-but how?" Mabel asked.

"Ha! Rhyme!" Soos said.

They both laughed and high-fived. It felt good to finally find someone who would not leave him hanging again. It also felt good to feel good. It was his first real experience with the positive emotion, and he liked it. He liked it a lot.

"What are you doing back here?"

"Well you see, the power of sibling love-" Dipper wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulders, "has finally brought me and my sis back together! And we're never going down at the hands of the likes of you because I'm so much better!"

Dippy Fresh waited for the musical number to kick in, but nothing happened. There were no spontaneous music numbers in reality? That was terrible! An emotion he had become familiar with, annoyance, filled up inside of him. Dippy didn't let it show naturally. Not even when his sister ran to lame Dippy Fresh's side, nor when he sneered, "I seriously doubt that's the real reason."

"Ha! The only thing my sis and I are serious about is having fun! Right May-May?"

"You actually let him call you that?" Dipper asked, staring at her.

Mabel blushed slightly.

"Times were different," she said defensively, crossing her arms.

"I sort of like it," said Soos. "If I had called you May-May, all summer, I wouldn't have had to worry about your name being Mabel and not Maple!"

"Ugh, I can't believe we're seriously having this conversation."

"The only thing my sis and I are serious about is having f-"

"HEY! HEY! WHICH ONE OF YOU BROKE THAT WINDOW?!"

Stanford marched out on to the porch, holding up the frisbee. Dippy raised his hand, because he knew that his sister valued honesty.

"Oh, well good job. I was going to remove the likeness to **Bill** from it, but you've done it for me."

"No problem-o."

" _Yes_ , pretty big problem-o," said Dipper, glaring at him. "Grunkle Ford this hip nineties version of myself just appeared from the woods and is trying to take over my life again!"

"Well, from what you told me, you handled those photocopied versions of yourself just fine. How is this any different?"

"It's different because-"

"I'm all that and a bag of chips!" Dippy posed again, crossing his arms and leaning forwards. "The total twin brother package! How could my sis not see me and realize that that other Dippy's a total fraud?"

Stanford didn't look so amused any more.

"I think you should all come inside."

He said it softly, but not enough to stop Dippy from hearing it. He went to follow them inside, but the door was slammed in his face. It nearly took his nose off, too. Broken noses were definitely not radical. Dippy went to one of the windows to look. The blinds were quickly drawn. He tried the door again, but it was locked up tight. Dippy looked up at the broken window, where the image of his creator had once stared down at him.

"Oh, I get it! You want me to prove my sweet skillz by doing some parkour!"

Dippy Fresh surveyed the house, wondering how he was going to get up to the window. There was a porch couch, but it didn't look too helpful with the shorter roof in the way. There was a rain-barrel to the side, but nothing for him to grip on to from there. Running his hands over the wooden log walls, he searched for a starting place. Dippy got splinters in return, teaching him not to use that method. He lost some time getting the splinters out of his hands, and he was further rewarded by blood spots. He was familiar with the reaction by now. He discovered the glitter bandages his sister had gifted him were more than just cool-looking stickers that made you feel better. They stopped small wounds from bleeding as well. He was down to his last five, and he had trouble picking between his favourites. Dippy settled for one with sunglasses printed on them, and put it over the worst parts on his hand.

Now he could get back to doing what his sister wanted. A window ledge proved to be sturdy enough. From there, Dippy clung to the eaves trough, and shimmed to the lower section of the roof, where the porch was. Once his feet were resting on something solid (he used that term loosely because the mossy shingles bent and slid under his feet) Dippy let go of the trough. He rubbed his hands together, working some feeling back into them. Now came the tricky part. Reaching a section of the roof and pulling himself up. By kicking with all his might, Dippy managed to precariously perch on the windowsill. Although, the climb had been exhausting, he did not stop to catch his breath again. Immediately, he stuck his head through the broken window, with little to no disregard for the broken glass.

"Hey _Maaabel_! I made it to the roof like you wanted!"

Shards of glass scraped against his back and sides as he tumbled through, but he didn't mind that much. He was bleeding a lot less than that time when a pterodactyl had tried to carry him off! Dippy stumbled around a bit before gaining his footing. He was in a bedroom. One of the beds obviously belonged to Mabel, he recognized all of her stuffed animals.

"Hey Mister Raccoon, do you know where my sis is?"

Mr. Raccoon didn't reply. He merely sat on the bed with unblinking eyes. Dippy Fresh picked up Mr. Raccoon, but he didn't react. So, stuffed animals weren't sentient in reality? His heart sunk at the realization. He had been looking forwards to reuniting all his animal friends again, especially since the forest's were not friendly.

A scream tore through the air. He abruptly dropped Mr. Raccoon in surprise as he was hit on the head with a broom.

"There you are! What did you think of my parkour skills? Wicked right?"

As he approached his sister, the broom was swung at him again. He dodged out of the way this time.

"I'll bet that other Dippy can't do parkour!"

The broom clattered to the floor as Mabel ran out of the room.

"Right! We never did get to finish playing hide-and-seek tag! I guess I'm it!"

Dippy Fresh turned around and counted to ten slowly. He made sure not to peek, Mabel said he should never cheat in any of the games that they played.

"Ready or not, here I come!"

When he tried to open the door, something was blocking the way. But with enough pushing, anything was possible! Dippy dislodged the chair that was holding the door knob in place. He left the bedroom, and came to a set of stairs. Dippy Fresh checked the room first, there was nowhere to really hide. So, he slid down the banister.

He caught sight of her going out the front door. Dippy followed. The second he stepped outside, someone grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him against the wall. His glasses went askew, and the world became blurred. A throbbing pain started in his head. Dippy wanted to frown, but it was always important to keep on smiling. It would prove just how much better he was than that frowning imposter Dippy.

"Can't you take a hint?!"

"Can't you take a chill pill?"

For his answer, he was shaken more violently. His grin became lopsided, but he didn't let it fade for a second.

"Hey, FYI, violence is never the answer."

"Name a word that rhymes with silence."

"Wilence."

"Wilence is not a word Dippy Fresh!"

"Of course it is! if you can use it in a sentence, then it's a word!"

"Alright, use it in at least three different sentences."

"Wilence is not a word. Use wilence in a sentence. How do you spell, wilence?"

"AAARAAAHH!"

"Dipper, stop!"

His sister intervened before anything worse could happen to him.

"His smiles just so- _rrr_! Stop smiling already! Leave us alone!"

"Let me try talking to him, alone."

"Just thirty seconds ago you were running away from him!"

"Re-lax Dip-Dops! We'll be fine! I'm not going to replace you!"

"Alright, but for the record, I don't like this."

The front door was slammed shut, and they were left alone. Dippy Fresh rolled his shoulders, wondering if they were going to be bruised. The lamer Dippy was pretty strong. But not as strong as he was! He had climbed up a building! There was no way his loser counterpart could do something so tubular!

"Smart job lying sis!" He congratulated. "Now all we need to do is run off to the place where we were born and raised: West Philadelphia!"

"What? No, Dippy..." She was frowning. They weren't ever supposed to frown. "Dippy, you tried to replace my brother and trap us in Evil Triangle Land, and so that _sort of_ makes you a terrible person. And you _sooort_ a' also do Bill's bidding I guess? Good brothers don't really try to do any of those things."

"But I have debatable free will instead of none at all! I can say that my creator **has** totally not radical choice in clothing and deserves to be mini-putted by you back to his dimension without facing instant painful death!"

It was the truth, but she didn't look very convinced on the matter.

"T-that's, that's good! You just need to start using your free will to not do the biddings of a dead guy!"

"I'm not! I'm doing what you want!"

"I don't want to run off to Philadelphia-"

"West Philadelphia," he corrected.

"I don't want that. I like Dipper the way he is."

"But I'm the perfect sibling!" Dippy pointed to himself. "I'm everything you could hope and want for in a brother!"

Mabel patted him on the shoulder, he took it as a good sign, but what she did next did nothing to lift his spirits.

"Not even someone as cool as you could replace Dipper. And if you really are the perfect brother, you'll understand why I'm going to tell you to forget about me. Get out there and go enjoy the dubious free will! Go to school, time-travel back to the nineties and find your people, be free!"

She quickly hugged him, but he was shoved away even faster. He stumbled back, they didn't even get to the "pat, pat" part of their awkward sibling hug. It was completely **messed** up without it.

"But-"

"Be free!" Mable repeated. "Go, run! Never look back as you make your bodacious impact upon the world!"

That was an order. He was supposed to do what Mabel said, but it still conflicted with the old commands he had been following. He uncertainly stepped off the porch, and looked at her. She nodded, and made a shooing gesture at him. He stepped back, and fell into the dirt. Rocks dug into his skin, but he got up and continued to back away from the house. Mabel did not stop telling him to leave until he was in the forest, looking at the house. He kept walking, but made sure to stay along the edge of the forest. He wouldn't get lost that way.

Didn't she get it? That they were supposed to stick together, even in reality? No, of course she knew! They were twins! They knew what the other was thinking, and Mabel was thinking that Lame Dippy Fresh would chase after them! Well he wouldn't let him! They'd get him out of the picture, together. Because that was how twins did things, together. The thoughts kept repeating in his mind as he tripped his way through ferns and twisted tree roots. It was getting dark out though, it made navigating the forest infinitely more difficult. He needed a place to rest, and he would have to figure out what to do about his problems in the morning. But first, he should probably wash off all the blood on himself.

The nearest body of water that he came to were the falls the town was named for. They were loud, and didn't seem like the safest way to wash off, but a river stirred at the bottom. He could see this as he peered over the road-bridge. After nearly being hit by a car, twice, he decided to take the long way down. That involved picking his way through even more forest, and nearly slipping on algae-covered rocks, but he still made it to the rapids. Dippy was rather proud of the fact that he nearly almost drowned only one time. And there wasn't even a bear that tried to chase him out of its territory! Things were starting to look **up** , and he felt a lot better without all the blood on his clothes and hands.

He needed a place to chill for the night, and a tall white birch caught his attention. There were plenty of branches to hold onto, and they looked like they wouldn't snap under his weight like the last five trees' had. Being the fly parkour master that he was, Dippy had no trouble finding a branch solid enough to sit on. He rested his back against the trunk of the tree, and made sure that at least one hand was holding something solid, for stability.

With his free hand, he took off his shoes, and tied the laces together. He wrapped them around on a near-by branch to dry. Dippy pushed up his glasses to rub his eyes. He wasn't too crazy about the whole, sleep thing. He wanted to be awake and having fun all the time. Reality said otherwise, and so he had to stop and slow down.

Sleeping in a tree wasn't comfortable, but it had to be done. He had nearly fallen out a few times, but managed to keep it together by sleeping on his stomach while holding the branch, sloth-style. In the morning he was awoken by traffic. Cars and busses were all leaving Gravity Falls, taking boats and trailers with them. He tiredly watched the cars passing by his face, wishing (despite his dislike of it) that he could go back to sleep. But the wind they stirred up in their wake, and the sound, naturally stopped anything of the sort from happening.

He would go back to find his sister today, and watch the imposter. He would become the imposter of the imposter, through toning down his coolness. Then, they would leave together. They'd start school together, and he'd be the apple of everyone's eye again, as he won the hearts of everyone in high school! He was starting to miss being the town darling of Mabel Land. He was terribly homesick, but there wasn't any Mabel Land without a Mabel in it!

 **Dippy Fresh** eventually accepted that the longer he stayed in the tree, the more uncomfortable he was going to become. He may as well get a head start on restoring his rightful place as everyone's favourite person. He put his shoes back on (they were still a little damp), and shimmied down. A car whizzed by his face, and he cringed, tightening his grip on the tree. More cars did the same, and he hesitated to move every time, fearing that he might get hit by one. He didn't, but what he saw next may as well have.

For a brief moment, his sister's face was in front of his, staring right at him. Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to say something, but she sped past, like the rest of the cars had. He was so shocked he fell the rest of the way down. He saw the back of the bus, and the shrinking words upon the back of it: California. The bus was going to California.

That was even more **painfully** far from Philadelphia than Oregon was!

He ran along the gravel side of the road, trying to catch up to the bus. She was leaving without him! She hadn't even said they'd be going to next day! His lungs burned, and his eyes stung. It felt like his entire body was being melted in the most hurtful way possible, from the inside out, by the summer heat. But he needed to catch up to them, he had to stop the bus! Even as he ran, it drew further and further from his sight. It was going too fast, he wasn't strong enough to run this much.

Then, with a sickening crack, he ran into something solid. His glasses snapped him two, and he was flung backwards. Biting pain spread throughout his body, and something warm trickled from his nose. Blood. More blood. It was getting in his mouth and dripping down his throat. He couldn't breathe, it was choking him! He gagged at the awful taste that filled his mouth, and he turned on his side.

He forgot that his nose was bleeding when he saw the retreating form of the bus. He started to get up, coughing and wheezing as blood dripped everywhere. He tried to race forwards for a second time, but there was an invisible wall. He placed his hands against the surface. It was solid, he couldn't get past it, he couldn't find any openings.

"Why is this happening?" He slammed his fists against the surface, wishing he was strong enough to break it. His bloody handprints stuck to the barrier. "Don't leave without-"

He could only stand there and watch as the bus vanished completely.

"...me."


	2. Interloping

**Read, review and enjoy!**

 **B** eginings

 **I** nterloping

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls.**

* * *

Fall came with a vengeance. Not a day after his sister had left, there were leaves changing colour and frost on the ground. It thawed with the rising sun, but the bitterly cold edge to the air did not. The prickling sensation dragged across his exposed skin that night, leaving an unpleasant burning in its wake. Dippy had been wandering through the forest, looking for something to eat when he first heard the pattering sounds. It came from the canopy above.

When he looked up, he saw a strange sight. The sky was clouded, and grey. Water splattered on his glasses (which he had temporarily fixed with his fourth bandage) and he looked down again. Darker spots appeared on his clothes, circles. He knew what this was, the word was on the tip of his tongue... _Rain_. There was rain. That never happened in Mabel Land. The skies were always clear, and forever cycling through rainbow colours.

A streak of lightning raced across the sky, and a roar followed after. Not just rain, thunder and lighting too. The show of electricity seemed like enough to make the drizzle of rain turn into a shower. All of a sudden, buckets of water were being dumped upon him, he was soaked to the bone within seconds. The pine trees offered more cover than any of the others did, with their many needles catching the water. He ran from tree to tree, in the direction of the house where his sister had stayed.

Crossing the lawn to reach the house was the worst of it. His sneakers slipped on the slick grass, kicking up mud and soaking with water. He was utterly drenched in the cold water, and thus even more relieved when he made it to the porch. The ground here was still dry, and so was the couch. He knocked at the door, hoping that they would be willing to let him in, but no one answered. He noticed the sign wedged between the screen and the door mid-ring.  
 _  
Gone on a worldwide treasure hunt! Will hopefully be back never!_

Great, just great! Everyone in the entire family was gone from Gravity Falls. His throat tightened at the thought, and he clenched his fists. He needed to find a way out of this town. It seemed like everything that he needed, and wanted, was in the outside world.

He took off his shoes and socks, leaving them to dry. Then he rolled up his jeans, so his legs could dry more as well. His vest was already in tatters, and now it was soaked. He took it off and tossed it to the side. He sat with his knees drawn up to his chin, but as soon as he had gotten comfortable, a fierce breeze stirred up. Sheets of rain were now blowing side-ways, leaving him completely exposed. Dippy resettled on the floor next to the couch, where it was shielded from the howling winds. He was then occupied with getting splinters out of his palms and the soles of his feet. That was what he got for going bare-foot. He sat criss-crossed, with his back against the side of the couch.

There was more lightening. It danced across the sky in jagged lines and twisted ribbons. Every time he blinked, he could see the outline of brilliant white light pressed against his eyelids. He could see the mountains, and even the outlines of distant clouds when it struck. The storm was intense, amazingly so. He had never seen a real lightning storm before, and so it was breathtaking to watch each spectacle. He could almost forget the chills that ran down his spine, and how unpleasant it was to sit on the splintery wooden floor.

But as the lighting dimmed, and the rain grew more intense, his mind was drawn back to the unpleasant. The not radical. The misfortune just refused to lay off. He kept thinking back to his sister, who had purposely left him behind, while taking his shady counterpart with her. She hadn't even _told_ him. She hadn't given him some sort of warning, or anything. Even when he had left, she hadn't so much as waved at him. There was no real farewell.

He must have missed something that she said. This was probably all his fault. She had been telling him to secretly do something, so they could run away. Yes, it was his fault. She was waiting for him to notice the hints she had dropped, so they could escape. Perhaps he could fly over the barrier, or dig under it! That made sense! He would dig under the barrier, and escape this town! Mabel hadn't abandoned him, he just needed to catch up! They would be reunited as soon as he could dig a deep enough hole. After all, he was the perfect brother. Perfect meant that she would never chose her other brother, over him!

 _"Bu-ut she d-i-i-d,"_ a sing-song voice inside of his head replied. _"You weren't a good enough brother to her, she picked him over you."_

That was a mistake! Momentary weakness, where he just should have been more supportive! Besides, it wasn't like he hadn't _tried_ to get her to stay after she had made the decision. He had chased her all the way into reality without hesitation. He had fought long and hard to find her again! He was a great brother, he just needed to get back on the same wavelength as her!

 _"You're not even capable of doing the one thing you were made for. And you know what that makes you? Ab-so-loute-ly worthless."_

That was a load of bunk! He was the most fly brother out there! Next time, he would just have to try even harder. He'd ignore things like sleeping and eating! They were a waste of time already in his opinion, but it helped lessen some of the pains that he went through.

 _"You're not even close to getting her back! Heck, you don't even have the hat! That's like, the bare minimum you should have if you're going to be her brother."_

"L-lay off! I don't need clothes to do the part!"

 _"Yes you do. Your appearance is the only thing you and her real brother have in common."_

"I'm way better than him!"

 _"And it obviously didn't work, because you're an incompetent, egotistical, moron who's too stupid to realize that-"_

He viciously squashed the mental conversation. He didn't like it, the criticism was all wrong, completely wrong! He was perfectly capable of getting his sister back! He'd deal with the imposter and they would... They'd... It wasn't working. Getting rid of the harsh words wasn't doing anything because it was all flooding back to him now.

Mabel had left him behind on purpose. There was no point in denying it. The thought hit him hard, especially since he knew that it was true. She didn't want to see him ever again. She wanted to run away to California with the least fresh person on the entire planet, and had. She didn't even say goodbye. She just told him to leave, to run "free." It was hardly free when you couldn't escape Gravity Falls.

But, maybe she would change her mind. She had before, so why not again? Yeah, that made sense, and the idea helped him relax a little more. She would come back for him, once some time had passed. She would realize, and she would return, without that sorry excuse for a brother in tow. They were siblings, twins! They had done so much together! And if that didn't work, he'd find something, do something! He'd make sure that no look-alike of his could ever get in the way again.

Dippy realized that his teeth were chattering, and she was shaking all over. His wet clothes stuck to him like a second skin, and there were instances where he could see his own breath. It was very cold, just so terribly cold. His fingers felt numb when he flexed them. The water was causing the bandages on them to peel off. He began to feel trapped on the porch. He couldn't go anywhere, there was always something in his way!

From inside the house, a light switched on. He flinched, thinking for a moment that lightning had struck behind him. It was a silly fear, he knew that, but he had it nevertheless. But with the light on, that meant someone was inside the house! He jumped to his feet and knocked at the door, hoping that he would get a response.

"Come on... Don't leave me hangin'," he quietly pleaded.

The door opened. It was Soos! His mood instantly lifted when he saw Soos. He wouldn't try to beat him up or tell him he couldn't come inside! Soos was just as surprised to see him standing at the back door. His eyebrows raised comically, and his mouth formed a tiny O shape. After a pause, he said, "oh, you're back."

"The only kind of rain I've ever been in is chocolate rain. And that comes from rainbows, not clouds."

"You should probably come in and dry off."

He nodded, and went to go pick up his things. They were no drier than when he had taken them off. He dripped water all the way through the strange-looking house. Splintery wood was everywhere, he really didn't like that. The taste in decorations was strange, too. There weren't nearly enough bright colours and balloons. He couldn't find the ball pit, either. There were just a bunch of pictures of old boring people. Why not have majestic landscapes, with inspiring words, in bold and all capitals written upon them? How could his sister stand to be in a place where not a single wall was coated in infinitely-popping bubble wrap? Soos took his shoes and socks from him, and hung them over a near-by air vent to dry out.

"What happened to your glasses?" Soos asked.

"I ran into a wall face-first."

"Yikes. That musta' hurt."

Soos went through the linen closet, and tossed a towel at him. It landed on his head, obscuring the world from view. He stood patiently as his hair was roughly towel-dried. His shoulders and front were patted as well, soaking up most of the water.

"I can duct tape them together, so they'll be more solid." Soos offered. "I've even got the fancy patterned kind! It'd look super rad!"

"That'd be great home skillet! Could you really hook me up with that?"

"Course dude!"

The warmth of Soos' voice helped him dethaw more than drying off ever could. He was experiencing that positive feeling again. It flickered inside of his chest like the strikes of lightening. They were white-hot bolts of electricity, and they only struck briefly before fading out of existence. The feeling was the same, it too easily departed before he could even take much of it in.

"Here, Mabel stole them for you. She said she figured you'd need them sooner or later."

The towel was pulled off his head, revealing three duplicate orange shirts, along with two pairs of grey shorts. They were folded in a neat pile, and sitting on the kitchen table, waiting for him. Lightning struck again. She had thought to get him something, he could practically pose as her brother now... A new wave of confidence washed over him. As disgusted as he was by the plain look, he would be able to imitate perfectly. When she came back for him, they could do the old switcheroo! A classic twin trick! His stupid square self would be left here, with everyone convinced that he was Dippy, while he would be free...

Something was dropped on top of his head once more. He took it off. A baseball cap. It was white, with a navy-blue back and pine-tree design on the front. It was different from his own, (it had a triangle instead) yet nevertheless eerily similar. That was because it was the same one his double wore.

"I noticed you lost yours. This one's straight from the gift shop! It's still got the stickers on it and everything!"

"It's perfect."

"You want some hot chocolate? Rainy days always make me crave it for some reason."

"That'd be wicked."

While Soos wandered around the kitchen, searching for everything he needed, he sat down at the table. His eyes were drawn to the rainy day outside. Trails of water traced down the glass. Raindrops joined together and separated, as they all competed to get to the windowsill first. He could hear the wind pressing against the window, and the splattering of water, but it could not get in. Steam curled against the surface as the kettle boiled. Eventually, a mug of hot chocolate was placed in front of him. Soos sat down across from him, with his own mug cradled in his hands.

"Are the Stans really gone?"

"Yup. I'm running the Mystery Shack for Stan in the meantime."

He took a sip of the hot chocolate. It was the best thing he had tasted in awhile. It had a lot less plastic dinosaurs than he was used to, and the glitter to sugar ratio was strange, (non-existent actually) but he couldn't complain. Something sweet was a step up from poisonous berries and tree bark. None of the food he had eaten lately fit into the four food groups: ice cream, cakes and cake-like products, chocolate, and candy.

"Nice. You'll be rolling in dead presidents in no time!"

"Er-"

"You know, beans, the green stuff."

"Ah. That makes more sense."

"When's Mabel coming back?"

"It's a bit early to be asking that. She and Dipper only left yesterday. Besides, you need to focus on other things! Mabel told me to tell you so!"

"She's-"

Beneath his glasses, his eye twitched slightly. He pressed his white knuckles against the mug. It was scalding hot, but he continued to do so anyway. It was the only thing keeping him from yelling out what he thought about everyone considering him the "fake" twin. He couldn't simply move on when his sister had been essentially stolen from him. They had memories too! He had spent an immeasurable amount of time with her! Even if he couldn't feel when it had all taken place, he could now.

"You ok there dude?"

Of course not. But would he admit it out loud? Mabel didn't like it lying... But then again, _she_ had lied to him first. She said that siblings stuck together. A lie for a lie then. She couldn't hold it against him when she had told a big fat fib herself.

"Why wouldn't I be, Home Fries?"

An empty, charming smile was all it took to placate Soos, even with how forced his voice sounded.

"You did just sorta' come to life," he replied. "Not everyone always takes it that well."

"I go with the flow whenever and wherever I can. That's why I skateboard!"

"Heh heh. You really are the coolest Dippy Fresh."

 _"But not cool enough where it matters..."_

 **1-19 6-1-18 1-19 8-9-19 8-15-18-9-26-15-14-19 8-1-22-5 19-16-1-14-14-5-4,**

 **4-9-16-16-25 6-18-5-19-8 13-1-25 14-5-5-4 1 8-5-12-16-9-14-7** _ **8-1-14-4.**_


	3. Lion Parsnip Weekly

**Before anyone asks, Lion Parsnip is a really terrible butchering of the magazine name Tiger Beat. Even though beets, a vegetable similar to parsnips are spelt differently.**

 **B** eginings

 **I** nterloping

 **L** ion Parsnip Weekly

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls.**

* * *

There was a thick layer of dust upon almost everything in the store. It coated the shelves, the magazine racks, and most of the products on the shelf. It rose up in clouds as he wandered through the aisles, making him sneeze. He traced his name into the layers of dust, as well as lightning bolts, and a fancy letter S. The store had been open, the neon lights flashing in the windows when he passed by. But the inside was dark, it looked like no one had been inside for a very long time.

Actually, that wasn't quite true. He spotted footprints, the tiled floor gleamed in the places where someone with larger feet than his own had stepped. There were other places that were disturbed too: the freezer, the rack of smile dip, and more. There were empty ice cream wrappers and popsicle sticks littered on the floor and on top of the shelves, too. So someone must have been inside recently. The air conditioning was on full blast, it made his chair stand on end and his hands go white. When he looked out the front window, he saw that there was now a fence around the entire store, and caution tape stretched across the doors. That was weird... But nothing had harmed him in the place so far.

Dippy went back to browsing, trying to keep as nonchalant as possible. There was an entire box of powdered sugar straws , coming in flavours like lemon, green apple, and blue flavour. What did blue even taste like? He didn't know, but decided to learn. He took a handful from off the shelf, and then turned to the other things in the store. There were packages of bubble gum tape, the only way that gum should ever be eaten. He took three large rolls, two in original, one in grape.

His attention was then drawn to the magazine rack, where he saw issues of _Lion Parsnip Weekly_. The cover had once been flashy and bright, one of the most colourful things in the store. It was faded with age, and the date on the dusty cover was from the nineties. There was a collage of pictures around the front, but the largest one was of a boy about his age, on a skateboard. He had the coolest print t-shirt he had ever seen. It was lime green, purple, black, and white. There were all sorts of shapes and lines scattered across it, and it looked great on him. He also had perfectly ripped jeans, not a single tear out of place, and even cooler glasses. He was frozen mid-pose, in the middle of doing a skateboard trick...

Dippy felt a pang of not-radicalness. He didn't have his skateboard. His un-fly counterpart had snapped it in half during his escape to reality. He was such a buzz kill! How could his sister ever chose the guy over himself? He didn't know the answer. He would just have to wait until she realized her mistake and came back for him. Surely that wouldn't take too long. He had decided to busy himself with finding a way around the barrier in the meantime. So that way, if his sister didn't already have one, he would be prepared to leave right away. Today, he was going to try digging underneath it.

But first, he needed better food to eat.

It was lucky he had found a store that actually stocked the proper food groups. He had already gotten enough candy, as well as chocolate. That just brought him to ice cream, and cake-like products. There was a box filled to the brim with twin-keys. Those would have to do. The icing-filled sponge cakes didn't even have expiry dates on them. They could survive the apocalypse and still be fine. In fact, they had survived the apocalypse, and now they were waiting there for him. He had a backpack to put everything in. Soos had given it to him, along with the invitation to stay in the Mystery Shack if it ever got too cold outside. He hadn't taken up the offer yet, but as they days got colder, he suspected that he would.

He tried to leave the door, but it refused to budge.

"Huh, it's cashed."

"That's right!"

From behind, two pairs of hands grabbed him. It was an elderly couple, who floated off the ground. They glowed blue, and were almost transparent.

"Oh snap! Ghosts! That's wicked!"

"Don't act like you don't recognize us Dipper Pines!"

"Dipper?" Dippy asked in confusion. "My name is Dippy! Dippy Fresh!"

"It's too late Pa," the woman sniffled, dabbing at her eyes. "Puberty's got him! It's turned him into a, a teenager!"

"Hush! Don't say such things!"

"I even saw him looking at the teenager magazines!" She wailed.

"He's still young! Maybe we can still get rid of the teenager possessing him!"

"I'm not Dipper," he repeated, "he's an entirely different person!"

" _Whaaat?_ Do you speak the truth?"

"Mabel says I should always tell the truth, and I've only been alive for a little bit!"

"Then, you're not a teenager?"

"Nope!"

"Oh."

Instantly, both of the ghosts calmed down again. They phased through the countertop and stood behind the cash register.

"Well then young man, that'll be six-eighteen for the candy."

"Cha-ching! Here you are!"

Dippy went through his vest, in search of something he could pay them with. He settled for parting with his yo-yo, and the last of his Mabel Land fun bucks. The ghosts looked at each other, and then shrugged.

"Good enough."

The door swung open. He waved at the couple before leaving the store with everything he had purchased. One thing he had gotten was a package of slap-on bracelets. He had purchased them so that he could further distinguish himself, despite the faded tone of his shirts and shorts. He tore it open with his teeth and put every one of them on. His arms were red and hurting by the end, but it was worth it. As he walked to the site where he would be digging, he ordered the bracelets from his favourite to least favourite. His first was definitely the rainbow zebra print with the peace signs on top of it. Then came the yellow smiley-faces that went all around the bracelet. After that one was the one with the tie-dye pattern, and on it went.

He eventually reached his destination: a sand pit at the park. It was perfect, exactly what he had been looking for, because the ground was soft and the park was on the border. The only problem now was that a bunch of other kids were playing on it. They were filing out of a school in the distance, leaving their backpacks by the bench, and hanging around. He would just have to wait until it was his turn. He patently sat on the bench, watching, and waiting for an opening. The longer he waited, he more children that seemed to arrive, many with parents. They were running along the play set, while one child closed their eyes and chased after everyone. It looked dangerous, but they never fell during the game.

"Grounders!"

"No one!"

"Grounders!"

"You have to count to five before you can say it again!"

There was a duo causing the rusty swing to hitch as they swung back and forth. Even more children were scampering underneath as they went. It looked like they could be hit at any second, but no one ever was. There was a boy crouched in one of the baby swings, and his friend pushed him. Once he had built up enough speed, he jumped off, sailing through the air and landing in the grass. There was a horrendous squawking sound. He turned his attention to the merry-go-ground. It was made of silvery metal, and the sides of it were all coated in a layer of brown rust. They were running around, holding on to the rails for dear life as a parent spun them in circles.

"Faster, faster!"

They all chanted it together. They went so fast that when they got off, they all stumbled away, running into other park equipment and falling in the grass. It was strange to watch all the children playing around him, yet not participating. He would have loved to join in, for just a second. He missed being popular, the one that everyone wanted to hang out with. People in reality just thought that he was strange, and belonged twenty years in the past. Adults had laughed when they saw and heard him, children didn't understand why he acted the way he did. To be fair, Dippy didn't understand how none of them owned stamp markers and t-shirt clips, amongst other things. No one wanted him to be here, they saw him as a weird joke. He didn't want to be here, there was nothing for him in this world beyond his sister.

 _"That's because you never should have existed. You don't belong anywhere here."_

The voice was back. But a blur of white dashed past his eyes before he could think of anything to retort. Was it more lightning? No, as the figure was caught by an incredibly burly man, he realized that it was a boy on a skateboard. He was wearing a blue shirt with the words "cool dawg" on it. In addition to a helmet, he also had wrist guards, elbow pads, and knee pads on. His heart skipped a beat. There was someone, someone who definitely knew the sort of plight that he was going through! He jumped to his feet, and ran over to the skateboard kid.

"Whoa! Sweet tricks dude!"

"That wasn't a-" his pink face grew even brighter. "Dipper Pines? What are you doing here?!"

"I'm Dippy Fresh, Mabel's _real_ brother. He sorta' kidnapped her, but I'll get her back."

The boy looked at the muscly man that had caught him, and then shook his head. He lowered his fists and stood back at little.

"Dippy... I think Dipper brought you up at the party... I'm Gideon, Gideon Gleeful."

"Nice to meet cha'!"

He offered his hand to Gideon. He flinched, and didn't take it immediately. Gideon laughed nervously and then shook his hand.

"S-sorry, you just, sort of sound like someone I used to know."

"Don't sweat it! People say that sort of thing all the time! Now about your skateboarding-"

"Ugh, I'm still tryin' to figure the darn thing out!"

"Well the first thing you should do is stand on it like this-"

Because he didn't have a helmet, he didn't want to get on the skateboard. Safety was first after all. He took the proper stance, demonstrating for Gideon. He uneasily copied his actions, bending his knees, and keeping his arms out, but more relaxed.

"You need to find your center of balance, and stick to it!" Dippy continued. "That way you won't fall off."

"Yeah, I nearly have been suffering from that for quite a bit."

"Exactly! And that isn't any fun at all! Now what you want to do next is gently push with one of your feet, whichever is less strong. See, now you're getting it."

With his radical tutelage, he was able to get the hang of it in no time. It was the most useful and wanted he had felt by anyone since he had come here. It was good to know that someone actually wanted anything to do with him, even if it was just the basics of skateboarding. It made what he had been thinking earlier wrong. There was stuff for him to do in this world, he just needed to find it! That would show that stupid inner monologue of his who was boss!

"Wow! I'm **a** lready on my way to becoming a normal boy!" Gideon said.

"Really? That's what I'm doing **t** oo! I just need to get rid of that pesky double of mine!"

Gideon was no longer smiling as he said this. He stepped off the skate **b** oard.

"G-get _rid_ of?"

"How else am I going to get my sister back? He's the one in my way."

"Dipper, er Dippy, if there's one thing I've learned this summer, it's that trying to get rid of Dipper will not get you M **a** bel."

"Yeah right!" Dippy waved off. "I know what I'm doing."

"No, really. The more you try, the more you'll pu **s** h her away."

 _"He's lying. He doesn't want you to get rid of the fake."_

That was right. T **h** is shady kid was obviously trying to get in between them. But he wouldn't let the story **c** onvince him. No matter how similar the situation was, no one could understand what he was going through, no one! **I** t was all a trick, he was deceiving him so that he would stop trying to see his sister again! Well he wouldn't fall for it, not in a million years! He was one step ahead of all of them, they'd never sto **p** him!

"Don't be silly!"

"Oh yeah?! Well... Well so is your face!"

"Talk to the hand because the mouth's off duty," he replied. "I'm outta' here."

"You'll regret it!" Gideon called after **h** im.

Dippy ignored the kid. There was no way that h **e** could understand any of what he was going through. He'd just have to show them all that he was the perfect brothe **r**.

 **Mvcg grnv: Qfhgrm Ilrozmw nzpvh gsivv xznvlh.**


	4. Lemon Fresh

**B** eginings

 **I** nterloping

 **L** ion Parsnip Weekly

 **L** emon Fresh

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls.**

* * *

Phone booths always had telephone books, and so he was in one now, looking for his sister's phone number. So far, he wasn't having much luck. Many of the pages had been ripped out, or been scribbled on by someone. There were red eyes crossed out everywhere, even on the glass case of the phone booth. He wasn't coming up with any results so far, thus it really didn't help when the other people in line (why were so many people waiting to use just this phone booth in particular? It was 2012!) were impatiently knocking on the glass and telling him to get out.

Eventually, someone grabbed him by the collar, and he was thrown out of the booth. He tried to go back in, but the others in line simply pushed him back. There was a large scrape on his elbow now. With a resigned sigh, he pulled out his sheet of bandages, and decided upon which one he would have to get rid of. It was a tough choice, he really didn't want to lose any of his remaining three. He didn't want to bleed all over the place either, though. After a minute of indecisiveness, he settled with the smiley face. It was round, and large enough to cover most of the area on his elbow.

With a sigh, he got to his feet. He would just have to wait for all the adults to be finished with the phone, or maybe find another booth in town. Dippy must have been dizzy from being thrown backwards, because he ran into a man he had not seen a split-second before. A wave of nausea suddenly washed over him, his world went white. He could hear the man's squeaky, high-pitched voice saying something. He caught a glimpse of the people on the street, and his heart nearly stopped. They were dressed like him! One teenager even had a shirt clip! Just as soon as he had seen this, it all vanished again, and another wave of sickness hit him. When he gained his bearings again, the man in grey was staring at him. He could see his lips moving, but the words seemed to be delayed. He could not quite make out what he was saying. Then, it all came rushing to him, and he understood what the grey guy was repeating.

"Aw geeze, sorry about that," he said.

"Don't sweat it! I've just got a little head rush!"

"Well, I've got to wipe your memory of time-travel now."

...Time travel? So did that mean he had seen the nineties? Hadn't his sister told him to check out the nineties, where there would be people like him? In addition to that, what if the barrier wasn't there? Maybe she really had been giving him hints all along. Travel back to the nineties, get out of Gravity Falls, and then travel back to present day so that he could meet her... Yes, that had to be it! This couldn't just be a coincidence! He had a way to escape!

"Oh sweet, disinfectant wipes!"

He happily took the entire package of "memory wipes" from the increasingly confused man. Then, while he was fiddling with his strange watch, Dippy swapped his time-travelling tape for bubble gum tape. The guy would never suspect it! The last thing he saw before he reached the past was the distressed expression of the time-traveller.

"The **key** to success **is** this **tape**!"

Now safely in the nineties, he tucked the tape into his vest pocket, and started to walk down the street. Everyone's clothes were much more stylish. He could see kids with fake tattoos and slap-on bracelets plastered up to their shoulders, a guy in biker shorts and a bucket hat, and t-shirt clips. T-shirt clips everywhere.

He was mesmerized by the sight of so many bright colours, so many cool, different fashions for him to take him. He needed to get a neon windbreaker like the guy riding a scooter wore. It was the most rad combination of teal, white, and purple that he had ever seen. His people really were here. But, he hadn't even talked with anyone yet, he hadn't even taken in all of the wicked fashions that people were rocking that he needed to get!

He almost wanted to stay here forever! But then, he remembered what he was doing. It was tempting to stay, but his mind was stronger than that. He was not going to fall for this slick trick, no matter how much he wanted that super-cool skateboard that had just whizzed by him. And no matter how much he wanted to explore the coolest decade ever, his sister came first, and he could not let himself be distracted any longer. It wasn't fated to be.

As he walked by a dark, shady alley, he was dragged into it. Teenagers circled around on skates, a scooter, and a skateboard, trapping him. The sound of rolling wheels against the pavement clawed inside of his mind and stayed there. He wanted to be afraid of the group, but they all looked so fresh that it was hard to feel anything but awe. When they saw that he was still smiling (he was always smiling, because his sister had told him to) they stopped. A teenager in overalls and a t-shirt poked him in the chest, and sneered, "what's with the grin pipsqueak?"

"Life! It's looking up!"

"Look kid-"

"It's Dippy! Dippy Fresh!"

"Yeah," the second teenager scoffed, "right."

"What's with the try-hard style? You look like you're desperately trying to be popular."

"Yeah, gimme' that. A squirt like you doesn't deserve such cool shades."

His glasses were torn from his face and tossed to the ground. He tried to reach for them, but the third teenager had pinned his arms to his sides. Dippy wriggled, slightly uncomfortable with this. She was really starting to hurt his arms, and his eyes were watering as well. Without his shades to block out the sunlight, he had to squint. He had thought that people's clothes had been bright before, but now they were crazy. Almost a little too intense for his tastes. How could anyone ever be expected to pay attention to anything when there were so many flashy colours being worn at the same time?

"What? Are you uncomfortable, Lemon Fresh?" The girl holding his arms sweetly asked.

That was a strange nick-name. As far as Dippy knew, there wasn't really anything yellow on him. The slap-on bracelet with yellow smiley faces had already been torn off his arm and thrown to the side. Remembering that she had asked a question, he nodded. Her grip tightened, yet she still smiled at him cheerily. Her expression was bright, and sweet to a sickly extent. He didn't like the expression, it made him feel very uncomfortable.

The pain grew worse as her smile grew increasingly larger. The bruises he had before were just starting to heal up, but now the sore spots were being pressed again. He wriggled again, but he knew that she wasn't going to let go. Her grip was as strong as steel, and just as cold. The teenagers snickered at his discomfort.

"Good."

All of a sudden, his legs were grabbed, and he was turned upside-down. The blood immediately rushed to his head, and he found himself struggling for breath. A lump formed in his throat, and his head started to pound unpleasantly as the blood fought to circulate. He could practically feel his skin turning red. Then, to make matters worse, they started to shake him. Things from his pockets and vest came loose. They clattered to the ground, and were scooped up by the remaining teenager. Some of his candy, his multi-coloured pen, and his last of his bubble gum tape was lost. That wasn't enough for the teenagers. They tore through his backpack, he could hear them.

"Don't you have any money?"

"Money is a social construct that has no place in the ideal society. Beyond arcade tokens and Mabel Land Fun Bucks of course! Take a friendship bracelet instead!"

They didn't like his answer. The bandages on his arms and legs were all ripped off. A sharp, stinging pain followed each time they did this. He winced, not liking the feeling, but having no way to stop them either. The bloodied, used bandages were stuck back on him, all around his face. At least they hadn't wasted them by throwing them on the ground. Then he would have really been upset!

"We don't want your friendship bracelets we want your money! Where is it?"

Just as Dippy started to wonder why no one had seen them in the alley, he heard two voices near the entrance.

"R-Rick, I think we travelled through time again, not dimensions "

"Oh shoot! You see Morty? I, I can't even swear or hint at profanity. We're in one of those dimensions. It gets censored. And my expired apple juice? It's just fizzy soda water now! How am I supposed to get slightly delirious on pop Morty? I can't! "

"H-hey Rick, should we do something about that kid over there?"

"Fudge. I think that's Sixer's great-whatever. We'd better, better go h-help him Morty."

"Hey! Generic nineties bully gang! Scram!"

The teenagers rounded upon the two newcomers. They made startled sounds, and Dippy was dropped on the ground. Immediately, he picked up his glasses, and then put them back on. He scrambled to grab the rest of his things too, stuffing them in his backpack and tucking them into his pockets. He turned to thank the ones who had saved him, but they were already gone.

"Well, that happened!" He cheerfully said to himself.

With no reason to stick around the alley, he got to his feet. He needed to get to the border of the town, hopefully without any more interruptions. Some of just cuts and scrapes had opened again because of his misplaced, but it was nothing too serious. The majority of injuries he had were mostly healed anyway, so it didn't matter if the bandages were stuck to his face. Parts of his skin were shiny and red in the placed from where they had been ripped. He ran his fingers over the smooth, scarlet surfaces. They were hot to the touch, almost didn't belong to his own body. The chill in his fingertips soothed the burning sensation. All things considered, the walk was not as bad as it could have been. At least, until he walked into the barrier again.

All his hopes and the denial came crashing back down upon him again. His sister didn't want him. She didn't care about him. No matter how many times he got his hopes up, it would still be the same at the end of the day: with her wanting nothing to do with him. His stomach tied up in icy-cold knots. He wanted to be sick, but there was nothing in his stomach. He sat down on the grass, clutching his head and squeezing his eyes shut.

Why wasn't he good enough? He was supposed to be the perfect brother, and he had played the role exactly as planned, right up until that thief had shoved up. Nothing he did was ever going to be good enough. He couldn't escape, he couldn't get his sister back, and he knew that she wasn't going to give so much as a second thought towards him. She was probably busy with school, becoming popular with her brother. Growing up with him instead of staying the same. Things weren't supposed to change, that had never been a part of their plan.

He was useless and pointless. Not even the era he related to best wanted him to be there. He was bruised and disheveled once more, and his few worldly possessions were all in a sorry state too. He never should have tried to follow his sister. He could have given up existence the easy way, and not have to deal with any of the horrid things he had been through. But really what he wanted to do was go back to the way that things used to be. Life here was just not radical enough for him.

"Whew! There you are!"

Dippy thought it was the boy who had come to his rescue before, but it wasn't. The man in grey, who he had stolen the time machine from, was standing behind him. He was sweating, and wringing his wrists together. With a sigh, Dippy handed him the tape measure, knowing for certain that he did not want to stay in the past. As cool as it had been, he had received more injuries within ten minutes here than he had during an entire day in the present. The time machine was snatched from his hands, they were transported to the right time.

"Don't you ever do that again!"

Dippy couldn't help but notice he was chewing on the bubble gum tape. The gum was tossed back to him, and then the man made another time leap, leaving him alone for the umpteenth time.

 **Kiro Lacgaeo lts p gkuhl hn Hxtnuskd emgeh. Lthp nnsi obdsmgg. Bsltac. B sdvm ou _G-Kuhlxd_ is vobi np lmmh hsfeilbnv geekik td wty. Yylt amde ppe ou Hbpec'l aixxmexl td kxt wml sxwmeg ftcz. **


	5. Words of (Questionable) Wisdom

**B** eginings

 **I** nterloping

 **L** ion Parsnip Weekly

 **L** emon Fresh

 **W** ords of (Questionable) Wisdom

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls.**

* * *

Ten bright blue eyes were staring at Dippy Fresh when he awoke. He jerked upwards, startled. Then, he braced himself, waiting for the painful impact with the ground that he had gotten used to. But, much to his surprise, he did not wake up falling out of a tree that day. He was already on the ground. Had he fallen in his sleep and not woken up? He moved his arms, and then his legs They were sore from his time-travelling mishap, but nothing worse than that. He turned his focus back to the blue eyes and five heads of blond hair that hung over him. Everyone in the group was almost identical. Same faces, same eyes, hair, and even the mostly white clothing. Dippy didn't quite know how to react to this. Why had he been kidnapped by quintuplets? Where could he get such a cool-looking gold chain, like the guy with the open shirt had?

"I think he's awake!"

"Can you hear us?"

"Sup? I'm Dippy Fresh!"

"Nice to meet you! We're-" Together, they stood up and sung, "Sev'ral Timez!"

"Wait a minute, I know who you guys are!" Dippy grinned enthusiastically at them. "My sister is like, a huge fan!"

Despite what she had said about having bad crush experiences with the band, she still had posters and merchandise of Sev'ral Timez. He had even listened to and proof-read her fanfiction about them, along with everyone else in Mabel Land. He knew all their names from one of many tests she had given on them. He knew their favourite colours, meals, eye colour, and what their favourite song to date was. Sure they all liked exactly the same thing, but he had still passed her test with flying colours, and even won an award for it! The members of Sev'ral Timez looked more scruffy than they had in the posters. Their once-perfect hair grew at awkward angles and in different styles. The clothes they wore were dirty and ripped in places. They had scars and scratches along their skin, just like him. No one could live in the forest for long and come out completely unscathed after all.

"That's cool," said Leggy P.

"But there's-"

"-only one girl-"

"out there who-"

"-matters to us! Together now!"

"M-A-B-E-L!"

"Hey! When you put those letters together, it spells my sister's name!"

"Really?" Deep Chris asked.

"Mabel is _your_ sister?"

"She never told us she had such a fresh brother!"

"Well, you know Mabel," he grinned at the band, "keeping humble is-"

"-the best policy!"

"Yeah! High-fives all around!"

Dippy got to his feet, and they all busied themselves with making sure that everyone got the right number of high-fives. It was hard to remember who one had high-fived when everyone kept moving around in a blond-and-white blur, but they managed to keep everyone content with the amount they had received. So long as they all got five, things were fine. Again, Dippy found himself appreciating the fact that there were more people out there, like him, who talked like him, and were even willing to give high-fives. It was more than he ever could have hoped for, especially after his terrible experience with the teenagers of the past.

"So, why am I here? What's going on?"

The sky was concealed by something blue, that billowed in the wind. Further inspection revealed that it was a tarp, one of many that was strung together with rope and carabiner clips. The tarps stretched out across multiple tree branches, providing shelter from the elements above. There was actually a circular hole cut in one of the tarps, and a blackened, circular area in the dirt. Burned sticks and leaves were sitting in it, and rocks bordered the entire thing. A fire pit then.

There were exactly five mismatched and torn mattresses on the dirt. He was sitting in a nest of fallen leaves, that easily reached past his stomach. A blue rain jacket that was his size exactly rested on the parts of him that were not covered by the leaves. Different odds and ends were scattered on the ground: tin cans, aerosol cans, glitter pens, and more. Only two of the four sides of the place were exposed, an enormous tree blocked one, and there were pieces of cardboard set up against another. Christmas lights were strung along the edges of the tarp. Many of the lights were broken, the sharp glass pointed dangerously downwards, threatening to skewer anyone who forgot about its existence. Some of the lights were still on, too. Dippy didn't know what was powering the lights, and he wasn't really sure if he wanted to know.

"You're in-"

"-the Wicked-"

"-Chillin'-"

"-Crib-"

"-of Radicalness!"

Sev'ral Timez scrambled to make a dramatic pose, something that Dippy could related to. They were poster perfect, and completely still as they made various arm gestures, and put on perfect, pouting boy-band looks. They were better at doing it than he could ever hope to be. Dippy realized that he could learn things from these wicked-cool bros. No wonder why his sister had idolized them so much. He had been perfectly happy to do what she said and admire the band before, but he wasn't actually happy. He didn't feel one way or another, he just did what she said because that was what Mabel wanted and he was supposed to support her. But now, with his emotions in check, he could finally open his eyes for the first time, and take in

Sev'ral Timez in their full glory.

"This place is off the hook! High-five!"

There was a second round of high-fives for everyone. It was just as confusing as last time, and ended the exact same way: all of them were chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool.

"You wanna' shoot some b-ball with us outside of the school?" Greggy C asked him.

"Would I? Er, actually, why am I here again?"

"We saw you in a tree!"

"And then we were like, dang, there is no way we can leave that little dude out to freeze in this ridiculously cold weather!"

"Stick with us, and we'll survive the winter together!"

"Ha! Rhyme!"

"Oh sweet! I didn't even notice! High-five Dippy Fresh!"

This brought the high-five count up to fifteen. He hadn't gotten this many in a row since he had left Mabel Land. His palms were red by the end of it, but it was worth it. No one high-fived harder than his sister after all. Just then, his stomach rumbled, reminding him that he was hungry. Instinctively, he reached for his backpack, but it wasn't there. They noticed his confusion, and pointed him to it.

"Thanks."

His food supplies were starting to run low, he would have to make a trip back to the strange ghost store and see what he could find. All he really had left were a few melted packages of ice cream sandwiches (they were shaped like cats, and had strawberry ice cream as well as vanilla, so cool!) and some twin-keys. He took one of the sponge cakes out, and started to unwrap it.

"Whoa, are those twin-keys?"

"Weren't those like, discontinued forever ago?"

"You probably shouldn't eat that."

"Here! Have some of these berries! The more you eat, the easier it is to get immune to the poison in them!"

Thinking back to his not-fun experiences with eating things from the forest, Dippy shook his head. He was not going to get sick or experience terrible cramping pains in his body like that again, so long as he could help it. The white ones that had made him delirious had been especially bad, all he could hear was his creator's voice, and boy was it annoying! Poisonous berries were just not the most tubular thing out there, he would rather avoid them than have to suffer from some crazy side-effect again.

"Uh, I'm good."

" _Whaaat?_ But these have like, all the vitamin C you need for a week! Sing it with me guys!"

Each member of the band thrust out a hand towards him as they sung the lines of the little jingle.

"Vitamin A keeps you a ok!"

"Vitamin C keeps infection outta' me!"

"Vitamin D does your bones good!"

"Vitamin E helps your skin... E."

"Vitamin K clots your blood!"

Together, they folded their arms and leaned against each other. All except for Chubby Z, who crouched down and held out his cupped hands. In them, there were many suspicious-looking red berries. Dippy nervously laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. He also smiled wider, just in case he had almost frowned without realizing it. He actually had enjoyed the small spontaneous musical number. People didn't really do such things around here, yet Sev'ral Timez was getting more relatable by the second. That didn't mean he wanted to eat any suspicious berries though. He decided that changing the subject again would be the best course of action.

"How do you guys know my sister?"

"Mabel set us fur-re."

"It's pronounced free," Deep Chris said, patting Chubby Z on the back.

"Thanks bro," said Chubby Z, patting his back in return.

"Thanks for thankin' me bro."

"Thanks for thankin' me for thankin' you br-"

"We used to be locked up in this crazy hamster cage by our old owner. Then Mabel came along, and she set us free from those chains! Now we get to do concerts whenever we like, we can go wherever we like, and we don't have to listen to that creepy old guy who made us!"

Huh... Almost the exact same thing had happened to him.

 _"That's because you're not a special case. You're not the first person she's done this to you, because you don't matter to her. You're worthless, and disposable, you always have been."_

More not-so radical thoughts. His mouth was starting to hurt from holding the smile. It felt like he had eaten too many of those sour sugar straws at once. His teeth ached from the sweetness, and his cheeks were starting to twitch in complaint. He could only hold the wide smile, knowing that he wasn't supposed to stop grinning, even as the voice in his head started to berate him as it usually did. He could ignore it, power through it though. He had found his people, for real this time. They got what he was going through. Maybe... He could ask them some things about freedom, about how they felt.

"D-do you like-" he winced as his voice cracked. That wasn't supposed to happen, that was something his lesser version did, not him. He was above puberty and all of its dilemmas!

The band seemed to know what he was going to ask. Creggy G got down on his knees, and placed his hands on his shoulders. Dippy fought not to recoil in pain. He was bruised there, really badly. He could still remember the smiling face of the teenager that had squeezed his shoulders until he saw stars before his eyes. Were they going to do the same thing to him? Shake him down for money and make him bleed by ripping off his bandages? They were in the forest, not a busy city street. No one would have to come to save him this time. The different things in the future had already proved to be not that friendly, and he suddenly feared being caught and hurt again. Nothing of the sort happened, however. Creggy G simply replied, "freedom is like, a mixed bag. Like trail mix!"

A bag of trail mix was tossed around. They did fancy moves, throwing it under their legs and behind their backs, closing their eyes and juggling it with something else. It was pure showmanship, and he was amazed that anyone could do such a thing in reality. When he had discovered that none of the cool things he could do in Mabel Land were physically possible here, he had given up on stunts. But they were doing just fine, and they were good at it, too. The trail mix was tossed to him. Dippy wasn't expecting it, and he fumbled slightly, before throwing it to Leggy P.

"You see Dippy, like re-al-it-y-"

"-trail mix is filled with things that leave you thrilled-"

"-and those weird orange cube things that only Deep Chris eats but none of us do because they're gross."

Greggy C gently took his hands, and cupped them. Then, he poured some of the trail mix into it, stirring the blend of seeds, dried fruit, and chocolate. First, he pointed to some of the granola.

"See this granola? There's so much of it, and it's so big, that you can't avoid it. You'll always get some if you take a handful out of the bag of reality."

"Some things in life, you just can't avoid. They're too big, and everyone goes through them."

"Self-doubt-"

"-gaining independence-"

"-growing up."

"Then, there's the chocolate. And I think we can all agree that it's a good thing, along with the fruit! C'ept for those candied orange peels because they are the worst!"

"Fruit gives you vitamins A and C!"

Nodding sagely, Greggy C said, "Word. Now look at those tiny things next."

Shelled sunflower seeds. They were tiny and flat, and they sunk to the bottom of the mix. He could barely make out any of them in the trail mix, but he knew that they existed. He nodded, to show that he was following along with the lecture that they were giving.

"Those little seeds are so tiny, you'd think that you could just ignore them. But you shouldn't! What would happen if you tried to ignore them while eating?"

"You'd choke! That's what fool! Don't choke on reality, it ain't good for you!"

Just to illustrate the point further (Dippy already understood, but there really was no stopping them) Chubby Z took a scoop and put it in his mouth. Almost immediately, he started to choke, and he had to be saved by the other members of the group. Bits of trail mix and saliva flew everywhere. He cringed and stepped back to avoid being sprayed. Greggy C went back to talking as if nothing strange had happened at all.

"Those seeds may seem unimportant, but looks can be deceiving. And when you don't ignore them and take a bite, you realize they had a flavour all along."

"Sunflower seeds are my favourite! They're a good source of manganese, selenium, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin B6, folate, and niacin!"

"Then, there's the orange bits that are seriously nasty. They're big enough so that if you don't like them, you can pick them out and give 'em to a bro who will eat them. You can't do that with sunflower seeds or granola though. There's either too many, or they're too small."

Deep Chris proceeded to take the cubes of candied orange from him and eat them. The others wrinkled their noses in disgust, they obviously thought that it did not have a good taste, but he seemed to be enjoying it.

"Look at this here crystalized ginger. It's crazy strong to the taste. It makes your eyes tear all foolish-like, and it makes your tongue want to give up? But does it? Nope! You get through it, and its properties will settle your stomach! The good outweighs the bad."

"This is making me hungry," said Deep Chris, rubbing his stomach.

"Me too."

The others all nodded in agreement. The bag of trail mix (what little remained that is) was passed around, until all of them had a good amount. Dippy found that it wasn't that bad. There was just enough from the chocolate and candy food groups to keep him healthy, and the sunflower seeds were very good. He was also grateful that he had something to fill his empty stomach too.

"Sho what we're shaying," Leggy P began, his mouth full of food, "is that reality ish full o' good and bad. Shome of whish you can avoid, shome of whish you can't. Shome things you should stay away from, and others you shouldn't."

"There will be times where you have to go through something bad to get to the good."

 _"Buuut_ , it's worth it!"

Not all of what they had said made sense to him, but Dippy thought that he understood at least most of it. Just then, two newcomers stepped into the shelter.

"Chubby Z, for the last time stop stealing my rain c-"

Dippy and his lesser look-alike both froze when they saw each other. Before he could even register what was happening, everyone else acted. Dippy was shoved towards him by Leggy P.

"Dippy Fresh, this is number four, a clone of Dipper. Number Four, this is Dippy Fresh! He's our new bro!"

"We're going to raise him!"

"I like raisins! They go good in trail mix!"

"We'll be like the momma' cat and he'll be like the kitten!"

"Don't tell me Dipper seriously looks like that now. How many clones of himself is he going to make?"

"I'm not Dipper," he scoffed. "I'm Mabel's _real_ brother."

"Er, right. So are you from a supernatural photocopier as well?"

"The power of my creator and Mabel's imagination brought me to life!"

"Yeah, it figures she would think of something like that, er, uh, you "

"Hey, I just realized that we're all clones here!"

"Clone party!"

Number Four had no choice but to join in with the high-fives that they sent around the room. It brought his high-five count up to twenty-one, and it was definitely worth the pain he had to go through to get.

"I just came here to get my raincoat back."

Dippy handed it to Number Four. He understood now why it looked like it could fit him perfectly.

"Here you go!"

"Thanks. And you uh, you should come to our meetings. It'll help, trust me."

"I'm always to lend a helping hand!"

"Sure. Anyway, we meet up a little north of here tomorrow and on Monday. You'll see a circle of rocks."

Dippy had no idea what that could be about, but he knew that he wanted to go.

 **23-5 1-12-12 14-5-5-4 1 8-5-12-16-9-14-7 _8-1-14-4 _ 19-15-13-5 15-6 20-8-5 20-9-13-5. **


End file.
